Boulevard of Broken Dreams
by sunnyamazing
Summary: The city broke her, it swallowed her whole. Cassandra Peterman has been murdered and for Castle and Beckett the twists just keep coming. Will they find out what happened to her? Will Castle find the moment to present Beckett her gift?
1. Chapter 1

I wasn't planning on writing a chapter story, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone, so I just had to write it down. The title and lyrics are from the Green Day song and may make further appearances, they just seemed to fit in nicely with what I was trying to write.

I don't own Castle or the lyrics, I am just borrowing them both.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter One**

She stood still outside the marble building, staring inside at the counter, staring at where she once stood for hours on end. Where she stood when her life was simple, her life was her own; her life was familiar.

She shivered as the wind blew across her back, she'd started the night wearing a coat, a coat she'd brought with her from home, but somewhere in the madness of this evening she'd lost it. She knew she'd never see it again, she had to get out of this place, she didn't belong here, and she wanted to go home.

Her hands trembled as she rummaged through her small purse, filled to the top with notepaper and pens, finally her fingers clenched around her phone, slowly she tapped out a message – crossing her fingers as it sent. The phone beeped at her and she took this as a sign that the person she had sent it to would soon be reading what she had written. She dropped the phone back into her bag and wrapped her arms around herself; she whispered a goodbye to the building and headed for her apartment, shivering as she went.

_I walk this empty street, on the boulevard of broken dreams,_

_where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk alone._

* * *

She smiled as she ran along the empty beach, the sand between her toes, the sunshine hitting her bare shoulders, the wind gathering up her hair. She stopped running and began to laugh, once a long time ago, she'd never understood how exactly wind could gather up hair. She guessed it was because she'd never run along this particular beach – a beach where the wind blew over the dunes and hit you right on the shoulders, gathering her brown curls and blowing them across her face. She stared out into the distance as a flashing light distracted her, before a buzzing sound began to accompany the light.

She blinked slowly, her eyes opening. The light was the flash of her phone, the buzzing the sound of the vibrate function. She wasn't on the beach running, she'd been dreaming of the previous weekend, the weekend she'd spent with Castle, Martha and Alexis in the Hamptons. She'd snuck out early on Sunday morning, pulling on clothes in the weak light of morning, before running along the perfect beach. She run for long enough so that the sun rose to meet her, she'd enjoyed the feeling of sunshine, the feeling of being alone with the water and the sand. She sighed as her eyes adjusted to the room in which she was currently in, the light of the clock telling her it was 4:26am, sighing she reached out for the other side of the bed, but it was cold and empty; the phone continued to flash and make its annoying rumbling sound, it wanted attention and slowly she pressed it to her ear, answering as she did so, "Beckett." She managed to mumble, the hand not holding her phone rubbing at her eyes.

"Detective Beckett, they've found a body."

"Sir?" she questioned, it wasn't usual for her Captain to call her about a murder, usually the calls came from Ryan, Esposito or even Lanie.

"I was working budgetary figures and fell asleep at my desk, I woke to the phone. She's in Central Park – West 77th," Captain Roy Montgomery explained, before he continued, "Beckett, it looks like him again."

Kate Beckett immediately felt her heart begin to race, she knew exactly who her Captain meant, there was no need for explanations. She pulled herself up from under the covers, throwing the blankets off before flicking on the lamp.

"I need confirmation before sunrise, if he's back again the press are going to be all over this, I need as much time as possible to head them off."

"I'm on my way." Beckett answered, ending the call and dropping the phone to the bed next to her. Sighing quietly, she stood and stared to the pile of clothes that had begun to mount next to the bed. There were two piles, one neatly folded and one messy, the clothes remaining exactly where they had been dropped. She bent over and selected clothes from the clean pile, changing into them quickly, before remembering to pick up her phone as she ran from the bedroom.

Slowly she tiptoed down the stairs, so as not to wake the other sleeping members of the Castle household, especially Alexis who Beckett knew would be up in a few hours herself, she had a very important essay that was due this morning, it had been worrying her for weeks. She knew that Alexis would read the document at least seven times before breakfast and another three on her way to school.

At the bottom of the stairs she found her shoes and slipped them on, walking on the balls of her feet towards where she knew Castle would be. Sure enough he was in his study, feet balanced on the end of his spacious desk, laptop on his lap, head resting on one of his hands. He was fast asleep, snoring peacefully, for a man who she knew was no angel, he slept with the innocence of a child – always calm, always peaceful. Silently she tiptoed over to him and removed the laptop from his lap, placing it gently on the desk, far enough away so that his feet would not knock it off if he woke suddenly. The screen illuminated as she moved the laptop and she could see what he had been writing, immediately she saw the name Roach and Beckett knew that Castle had as usual had one of his middle of the night 'brainwaves' and had immediately come downstairs to write it down. This trait was one of the many things she'd learnt about her partner in the eighteen months that they had been dating.

The first night it had happened they'd been at her apartment, she'd woken up at 3am and had thought he'd gone home, instead she'd found him sitting in her kitchen, hunched over his iPhone - typing madly. She'd also found he'd ransacked her living room; he'd been in search of her laptop. He hadn't found it, mainly because he'd not bothered to look underneath the couch. She smiled remembering the back and forth conversation that they had entered into, him lamenting her hiding her laptop under the couch and her lamenting that he was the one awake at 3am wanting to write. He'd called it his writing prerogative and that he couldn't help the fact that he became particularly verbose in the middle of the night. Once he'd managed to write his particular scene the two of them had laughed the night away, neither of them falling asleep until the sun had begun to peek underneath the drapes.

As tempted, as she was to read what he had been writing tonight– she desperately wanted to know what he was planning for the latest Nikki Heat novel – she didn't. Castle was stubbornly refusing to tell her what he had written and what he was planning to write and although she would never admit it, this was intriguing her. She smiled and instead softly kissed him on the forehead and crept from the room, under normal circumstances she would have woken him and asked him to come with her.

However tonight she'd decided was not a normal circumstance; she knew that if Michael Bancroft were behind this murder then Castle would feel guilty. Michael Bancroft was the second case that she and Castle had dealt with after their relationship had gone public, both she and Castle believed that he had been responsible for the murder of his wife, Paulette. Paulette was six years younger than Michael and just prior to her death had worked as a customer care representative at one of the city's finest jewellers - she'd been found in the park by an early morning jogger, who had tripped over her purse and received the shock of his life. From the beginning Castle had had his suspicions about Michael and they seemed to be confirmed when one of Paulette's co-workers had mentioned that she was planning to leave her husband, but from there the case had fallen apart.

Bancroft had family money and had managed to hook himself the best possible lawyer, who'd poked holes in all of the leads that both she and Castle could find. The press had also been constantly following the two of them at the time and had been exceptionally scathing in their reports of Bancroft's dealings with the police, this press interest had only intensified when they'd had to release him – this was the reason for Montgomery's worry, recently things had been good between the press and the NYPD, they didn't need another scandal - which is exactly what Bancroft would be.

Bancroft had typically been thrilled with his outcome and he'd made sure to thank the two of them immensely, for what he had called a 'failure to merge a romantic and work relationship correctly.' He'd even suggested that Castle should have stuck to writing fiction – he was only after all playing with 'fake lives' when writing. For weeks after Castle had blamed himself and had even contemplated giving up his shadowing, Beckett had even accidentally found a very detailed passage of writing involving Jameson Rook striking a murder suspect in an interrogation room when Nikki was making coffee. Neither of them had mentioned Bancroft since and two days after reading the interrogation room scene, she'd found it in the trash. She sighed as she headed for the door, she wouldn't tell Castle until she was sure, until she had evidence.

Quietly she unlocked the door and stepped out into the hall, stepping over the paper that had been delivered just prior to her wake up call. In the days before her and Castle and cases like Bancroft - she would take the paper with her each morning and read it from cover to cover, sometimes in avoidance of completing paperwork. Now she knew better. Each morning Castle would get the paper first and he would remove the 'entertainment' section, or as Beckett had come to call it, the section where people write fiction and try to pass it off as news.

As she headed for the elevator she smiled at the stories that had been written about her and Castle, they'd been engaged four times, married twice, including one lavish ceremony in Paris that had reportedly cost over two million dollars, Beckett's dress had been made by Vera Wang and had apparently cost $50,000 and finally she had been the subject of pregnancy rumours six times, once after she'd eaten a five course meal at Le Cirque – so of course she had been 'unusually rounded.' Occasionally she'd hear him giggle as _he _read the entertainment section, but he never told her what exactly he was giggling at – this was better for the both of them. It kept her sane and him entertained, both of which each of them needed.

The elevator arrived and she stepped inside, pressing the button for the parking garage, soon enough she was driving down the quiet streets, headed for the park, not knowing what she was going to find.

* * *

So that was chapter one, if you liked it please let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts, you all make me smile madly. I love to know what you are thinking so please keep letting me know!

Once again Castle isn't mine.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Two**

Beckett sighed as she pulled her car in behind the patrol cars at the edge of the park, she shivered as she climbed out into the early morning breeze, this wasn't the Hamptons. There would be no chance of a run along the beach this morning. She smiled at the uniform who held the tape up for her and she bent over and slid underneath it. She took a deep breath as memories of her mother and her mother's murder flooded her head, every time she crossed a line of tape at a crime scene she'd see her mother's face, soon followed by her mother's crumpled body. It didn't matter that she now had more answers as to why her mother was killed - the memories still remained. Lately Castle had taken to giving her arm a small squeeze as they crossed under the tape, he'd known about her flashbacks long before they were ever together – he'd been the first person she'd ever told. She smiled wistfully and reached for her right arm with her left hand, squeezing it. It wasn't the same and immediately she missed Castle, missed his comforting presence.

"Yo Beckett." Esposito called from a squatting position, Beckett looked over to where he was and she knew she'd made the right decision in leaving Castle at home, missing him or not, he didn't need to see the sight that was greeting her.

Lanie was kneeling next to the body, holding one of the victim's small hands in her own, staring under the fingernails, Esposito was watching carefully and Ryan was talking to a man who still seemed to be having trouble breathing.

Beckett took a deep breath and walked over to Lanie, "What have we got?" she asked cautiously, staring down at the body, taking in the scene in front of her.

"She's been strangled," Lanie began, using her pen to lift the strap of material from around the victim's neck, "based on the degree of bruising on her cheek I'd say she's been dead no longer than three hours."

Beckett looked down at her watch, "Just before 2am?"

Lanie nodded, "She's also got a deep cut along her arm," she explained, pointing at the left arm of the body, "It seems to have been made by this." Lanie said gesturing towards a pen that rested on the grass next to her.

Beckett knelt next to her and stared at the victim, she was young, no more than twenty-five, she had deep green almost grey eyes, one side of her face was perfect, her makeup professionally applied, the other was marred by a large bruise and a blood stain that looked as if the victim had wiped at her face after she'd been cut. Her hair was a dark raven black, half of it was curled and framed her face, and the other half tied up and clipped on top of her head, her dress was designer made, and clung to her body in all the right places. Alive, she would have been a stunning young woman, she was beautiful, but not in the sense of beauty that was in fashion now, she was beautiful in the way that women were years before. Beckett regarded her carefully; there was something eerily familiar about her face, Beckett had seen someone that looked like her before.

Immediately she thought of Paulette Bancroft, Paulette had had dark black hair, she'd been found with a large cut on one of her arms and she'd been strangled, strangled with the length of the leather strap of her handbag and she'd had the kind of classic beauty that this victim had.

"It isn't robbery," Esposito said as he pointed towards the jewellery that the victim was still wearing, "That bracelet is at least a grand, if not more."

"$1199." Lanie answered quickly, "I pointed it out to you last week baby. I suggested it as a birthday present. I've taken it off the list."

Esposito nodded his head, "Got it, I'll think of a new idea and she's still got the matching necklace." He replied as he then gestured towards the victim's neck, before moving his attention to her handbag, the strap was missing, it was still around the victim's neck, Beckett could see where the strap had been torn off. "Also cash and phone," he said as he handed the broken handbag towards Beckett, "No ID or cards, but there is this."

Beckett stared at what Esposito had handed her, folded pieces of paper, she read them carefully, it appeared to be a script of some sort. It wasn't anything she recognised, it was a scene set in a hotel room, involving two characters Beckett had never heard of.

"Beckett," Ryan said as he came over to join them, "Our witness here says he was out running and fell over the edge of her handbag, he immediately fell next to our vic here, that pile over there is from where he was sick before he called us."

"What was he doing out running at 4am?" Beckett questioned, keeping hold of the papers and the handbag as she stood up.

"He's a Wall Street man, comes out to run before he makes a cool million an hour, providing investment advice to the rich and famous." Ryan explained, "He left me his card, told us to call if we needed him."

Beckett nodded, "He can go, tell him we will be in touch."

Ryan nodded back and headed back over to the witness, who smiled through his deep breathing and immediately ran off and out into the still quiet park.

"Lanie," Beckett said as she turned to look at her friend, "I need to know if Bancroft could have done this?"

A look of realisation crossed Esposito's face, "That's why no Castle."

"Exactly," Beckett replied, "We don't mention any of this to him until we are certain, but more importantly the press will be all over this if it is Bancroft. Captain needs details to head them off."

"As soon as I've got her on the slab I'll compare wounds," Lanie explained, "As soon as I know you'll know."

"Thanks Lanie," Beckett replied, "Esposito, Ryan," she began as Ryan came back to stand next to his partner, "I need you two to run witnesses in the park, see if anyone else saw our vic or her murderer. Start with that apartment there, by her clothes she was at a party last night, we could be lucky and she was just there." Beckett explained, pointing to an apartment she could see in the distance, it was lit up like a Christmas tree and there were at least five people dancing on the small balcony. "I'll head back to the precinct and run the phone, see if we can get an ID."

Esposito and Ryan nodded and began to head for the apartment. "I'll see you later Lanie." Beckett said as she turned back, she felt her heartbeat quicken as she saw the look on the medical examiners face, "Lanie?" Beckett questioned, kneeling once more as she stared at what her friend had found.

"Swift's Jewellers," Lanie read slowly.

"The same type of key card Paulette Bancroft had on the night she was killed." Beckett replied just as slowly, "This vic worked at the same store as Paulette."

Lanie nodded as she motioned quickly to one of the other uniforms that were manning the tape, he knew what she was meaning and immediately helped her load the body onto the stretcher before getting his partner to help him take her to the van. "As soon as I know anything." Lanie told Beckett as she slipped past the stunned detective, who nodded and then watched her go.

Beckett took a deep breath before rummaging around her pocket for her cell, she dialled her Captain's office, he answered on the first ring, "Sir," Beckett began, "Our victim worked at Swift's."

Beckett heard the sharp intake of breath on the end of the phone, "I'll get him picked up. See if he can talk his way out of this one." Captain Montgomery answered.

"Sir." Beckett answered and then he was gone and Beckett was left with the dial tone in her ear - alone in the park gathering her thoughts, she was going to get another chance at Michael Bancroft and this time she'd be ready for him.

* * *

Alexis Castle woke at 5:30am, the ringing of her alarm clock in her ears as she threw a hand out from under the covers, silencing the alarm immediately. Yawning she pulled herself from the bed and slid her feet out onto the carpet beneath her, her philosophy major essay was due this morning and she needed to read it at least another four times to make sure it was perfect. She sighed as she took her laptop from her desk and her cell phone and headed out into the hall, blinking she noticed a light from her father's bedroom – he'd moved upstairs about a year ago when her Gram had moved out permanently. Her father had taken her Gram's old bedroom and the other spare bedroom and knocked the wall out between them, creating his own giant sized room. Apparently it separated work Castle from non-work Castle – Alexis had pleaded with her father not to tell her anymore, otherwise he'd be paying for her therapy.

Tiptoeing down the hall she squinted as she reached the door, before calling out, "Dad, are you okay?" there was no response, so she tried a different question, "Kate, are you okay?" still there was no response. Alexis took a deep breath closed her eyes and poked her head in the door, still there was silence, slowly she opened her eyes, one finger crossing the other that she wouldn't see her father doing something that no daughter should see her father doing, but the bedroom was empty. The covers had been hastily thrown back and both her father and Kate weren't there. Alexis wrinkled her nose and walked into the room, switching the lamp off and heading into the hall, it wasn't unusual for her to wake with neither her father nor Kate at home; murderers didn't keep to the hours of nine to five. Using her cell as a light she headed down stairs, she'd made sure she'd kept some chocolates in the back of the pantry, after the essay she'd written she deserved chocolate for breakfast.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she couldn't help but roll her eyes, there was still a lamp on in her father's study, sighing she made her way into the room, honestly, she thought – it was good that her father was a best selling novelist, the amount of electricity he used would sometimes be enough to power a small country. She begun to sigh as she noticed that the laptop was also on, it was then that she realised her father was still there, he was asleep with his feet resting on the desk in front of him.

"Dad," Alexis said quietly, shaking at her father's shoulder, "I think you'd be better off in bed."

"Alexis?" Castle questioned, as he blinked his eyes, "What time is it?"

"Just after 5:30." Alexis replied, as she watched her father wince as he removed his legs from the desk and stretched them. "I thought you must have gone with Kate."

"Why are you awake?" Castle questioned, before he realised what Alexis was also saying.

"My essay." Alexis added simply, motioning towards the laptop she still held in one hand. "Dad," she began, "If you are here then where's Kate gone?"

Castle shrugged as he stood up, "I don't know." He answered simply.

"Did you do something to annoy her?" Alexis questioned as the two of them walked into the kitchen.

He thought for a moment before answering, "Not that I remember. We'd gone to bed, I woke up, and there was a scene with Nikki and Rook and Roach that I wanted to write."

Alexis held up a hand, "Dad you know how I feel about your books especially now you and Kate are together. There are pages that I skip." Castle laughed, "Seriously Dad," Alexis added, "there are some things I really just don't need to know."

Castle laughed again, before he frowned – if there had been a murder which he assumed there must have been – why hadn't Beckett woken him? How long had she been gone? Where had she gone?

* * *

So that was the case. I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will be up soon, my brain just keeps on writing this story at the moment and I am thrilled about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you once again for your encouraging words.

I don't own anything you recognise.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Three**

Alexis watched as her father's face frowned, "Before you start thinking about alien abductions or government conspiracies perhaps you should just call her."

"Oh my clever daughter," Castle replied with a smile, "I should just do that." He added as he took the phone from the cradle and dialled Beckett's number. The phone rang several times, but there was no answer. He frowned before he put the phone back onto the kitchen counter, "No answer." He told Alexis, who had left her father and was rummaging around in the pantry, her laptop and cell discarded on the opposite kitchen counter.

Alexis smiled as she found the chocolates she had hidden, carefully she slipped them inside the sleeve of her pyjamas, before she turned to look back at her father, "Dad," she began, "we have a doorman, call him."

Castle nodded and he reached out for the phone again, dialling the number of the lobby of the building.

"Mr Castle, how are you this fine morning?" the familiar voice answered cheerfully.

"Sammy," Castle replied, "has anyone ever told you that you don't have to be so cheerful so early?"

Sammy laughed, "What can I do for you?"

"I am just wondering if you've seen Beckett this morning?" Castle questioned as he watched his daughter carefully, she'd managed to set up her laptop on the counter and was sitting on one of the kitchen stools - every so often she'd stop her furious touch typing and reach down for something, ducking her head as she did so.

"Can't say I have," Sammy answered, "I only started just before five. I'll check the computer." Castle waited and he heard Sammy swear under his breath at the computer, before he began to speak again, "Key card for the parking garage was activated at 4:40am, registered as one of yours, I can check the surveillance footage, but I'd say that was Miss Kate leaving you. What did you do?" Sammy questioned with a laugh.

Castle rolled his eyes, "Nothing Sammy, I did nothing."

"That's the story you are sticking to anyway?" Sammy questioned laughing again.

"Thanks Sammy, I'll remember this." Castle replied with his own laugh before he hung up the phone and put it back on the cradle.

"So?" Alexis questioned, her head poking above the screen of her laptop momentarily. "Did you solve the mystery of the missing Beckett?"

Castle pursed his lips, wrinkling his nose, "Well we have her leaving the building in her car about an hour ago, this means …"

"Someone got murdered." Alexis replied, finishing her father's sentence.

"Exactly." Castle said with a nod of his head, "But it still doesn't explain why she didn't tell me she was going?"

Alexis carefully slipped another chocolate in her mouth before looking at her dad over the top of her laptop screen, "You could always do the easy thing."

"Which would be?" Castle questioned as he realised what Alexis was reaching for and made his way closer to her.

"Go to the precinct."

Castle smiled, "A wonderful idea, but first," he said as he slipped his hand around behind the laptop, "I'll have one of these." He added as his hand took hold of one of Alexis' precious chocolates.

"Dad." Alexis squealed, her hand reaching for his, but he was too quick for her and she watched as he ate one of her chocolates, laughing as he did so.

"I'll buy you more," Castle replied as he leant over to kiss Alexis on the forehead, "besides aren't you the one always telling me that chocolate isn't breakfast."

Alexis glared at him, "Gram promised me celebratory ice cream at Serendipity when this was done, you can make it up to me by being there and paying for the both of us."

"Done." Castle replied, holding out a fist towards Alexis – who immediately made a fist of her own and bumped it against his. "Text me." He added before he kissed her forehead for a second time, smiling at her warmly as he stepped away from her and then headed upstairs.

* * *

Beckett sat on the edge of her desk, staring at the board in front of her; so far it was filled with blank spaces. They didn't even know the identity of the victim – Ryan and Esposito's investigating into the party that had been near the park had been a bust. The victim hadn't been with that crowd of people, that party had been an exclusive six person gathering, complete with things that neither Ryan nor Esposito had been able to tell her without blushing furiously and more importantly all of the guests were still in attendance.

Beckett had driven the long way back to the precinct, she'd taken a few side streets, hoping that perhaps there would be another witness, but the streets had been empty. The city just before 5am was relatively quiet, it was too late for the revellers and too early for the workers, unless they were joggers like the one that had found the body – his card was stuck to the board, but she was pretty confident he'd had nothing to do with the murder, murderers didn't usually vomit after killing someone.

She stood and moved closer to the picture of the victim, studying the good side of her face, Lanie hadn't called with any news, nor had tech with news of the cell phone she'd dropped off on her way in. Beckett reached out and traced a finger over the markings along the victims neck, it was clear that she'd been strangled with the length of the strap from her handbag; the pattern that marred the skin matched the pattern of the leather. She closed her eyes and remembered the markings on Paulette's neck – they were similar but not identical, but Paulette had a different handbag than what this victim did so of course they weren't going to be the same. She shook her head, this victim had been found close to where Paulette had been found, she resembled Paulette physically and she had a card for the same jewellers that Paulette had worked for close to her death. These three things automatically leant themselves to the fact that Michael Bancroft could have committed another murder – they'd never been able to catch him the first time, perhaps they'd be able to this time. So far they hadn't been able to track Mr Bancroft down and Ryan and Esposito had gone out to look for him as soon as they'd both finished blushing.

The phone ringing behind her startled Beckett from her thoughts, there was no caller ID on the precinct phone but she had to answer it, even if it could be Castle, even if she didn't know what to tell him about this victim. "Beckett," she answered cautiously.

"Detective Beckett, it's about the phone."

Beckett released a sigh; it was one of the techs that she'd left the phone with earlier.

"We ran the SIM card," the tech explained, "we encountered a problem though."

"A problem?" Beckett questioned, "Could you get anything?"

"We've got contacts, messages, emails and the calendar."

Beckett thought for a moment, none of those sounded problematic; in fact they sounded the opposite – helpful. "And the problem is?"

"It's an international SIM detective, we can't get billing information or even who the SIM is registered to without access to the records of the company who owns the SIM. We can tell you how the phone has been used and what it has been used for, but not who owns it."

"International?" Beckett questioned, staring back at the photo of the victim, _who was she?_

"The SIM is from Australia detective."

"Australia?" Beckett repeated, "Australia, as in the other side of the world Australia."

"Exactly," the voice replied, "I can send you all the information that we've been able to retrieve and I can send a requisition for the billing information but that might take some time."

Beckett felt herself nod, before realising that she had to actually say something to the person on the other end of the phone, "Okay," she answered, "thank you."

"I'll be in touch detective." The voice replied, before hanging up.

Beckett pressed two fingers to the top of her nose; suddenly this case had gotten a whole lot more complicated. A murder victim in Central Park was one thing; a tourist killed in Central Park was a new case entirely. There would be added pressure from consulates and governments neither of which knew how to solve murders. She needed caffeine, surely that would help her think more clearly. She turned and began to move towards the break room, it was then that she saw him, she smiled warmly – he was holding two coffee cups.

* * *

Castle held the cups carefully as the elevator slowed and then stopped before the doors slid open. He'd showered and left the apartment quickly, stopping once to pick up coffee on his way. He smiled as he saw the familiar figure of his partner moving towards the break room, he watched as her face moved into a smile, he wondered if it was because she'd seen him, or she'd seen that he'd brought her coffee, he hoped it was the former, but in some way he knew it was also the latter.

"You left without me," he said quietly as he handed Beckett her cup, his fingers grazing her hand as he did so, before he reached for her other hand and squeezed it quickly, she responded and then he let her go. The precinct knew that they were dating and most of them were ecstatic when they had found out, but there was a strict no PDA rule at work – a rule that surprisingly he managed to follow, even if it was incredibly difficult.

Beckett took a sip of the coffee revelling in the rich taste, she'd known that he would arrive eventually and that his first question would be why she'd gone alone to a murder scene. It had after all been a long time since she'd not had him with her when she'd gone to see a body – the last time had been over six months ago, he'd been in California discussing options for the second Nikki Heat movie.

She took a deep breath, "This murder," she began quietly before she was interrupted.

The elevator doors slid open once again and revealed Ryan, Esposito and a cuffed Michael Bancroft.

Beckett watched as Castle's eyes narrowed and his posture became rigid, "Bancroft." He said through gritted teeth – staring harshly.

Michael Bancroft smiled, "Detective Beckett, Mr Castle, it's so nice to see you again," he said with all the charm of a snake, the words hissing through his teeth, "or is it Detective Castle now? The papers do like to write about the two of you and here you both are, together drinking coffee, how sweet."

Castle felt his non-coffee holding hand clench into a fist, he now knew why Beckett hadn't told him about this case, Bancroft had killed someone else, just like he'd killed Paulette.

* * *

So we've met the charming Mr Bancroft, Castle really doesn't like him. I'd love to know your thoughts. Next chapter will be up soon, I've got to do some research for the next part.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you once again for the kind words.

I don't own anything you recognise.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Four**

Beckett could feel the anger radiating from the man next to her; she remembered the harsh words she'd read all those months ago, the force with which Jameson Rook had pushed a suspect called Mikhail Croftban into the mirror in the interrogation room, the detailed description of the glass breaking around the two of them, shattering into tiny pieces, anger had leapt of the page and the same anger was leaping from Castle now.

She smiled back towards Bancroft, "It's still Beckett." She replied through gritted teeth of her own, silently she willed Esposito to take Bancroft to the interrogation room – he read her slight facial movement perfectly and quickly shoved Bancroft forwards with Ryan following closely behind.

Castle watched as Ryan and Esposito pushed Bancroft down the corridor, his hand was still clenched into a fist. He hadn't looked at Beckett since he'd seen Bancroft, his eyes had been focused on the man whom he'd allowed to get inside his head the last time they had crossed paths. Castle was looking for his one weakness – the one odd sock.

Beckett took a deep breath before she stepped to stand in front of Castle, she snuck a look around the precinct before she slid her hand down to his clenched fist, her fingers tangling with his, trying to get him to relax.

"I didn't want to tell you anything until I was sure." She began as she felt his eyes move to meet hers.

"Sure that he'd murdered someone else." Castle replied, his fist unclenching as he felt Beckett's fingers entangle with his before she slowly pulled her hand away.

"There was another body in the park," Beckett explained as the two of them walked towards her desk and the murder board, "she was a young woman, she had a card for,"

"Swift's." Castle said finishing Beckett's sentence as they stopped in front of the board, he stared at the victim closely.

"How did you know that?" Beckett questioned expectantly, either Castle had made a good guess, or he knew something she didn't. There was no mention of Swift's on the board just yet – all she'd written was where the body had been found and the approximate time of death.

"I've met her." Castle said, turning his head to the side, studying the victim's good side of her face.

"You have?" Beckett questioned as she sat down at the computer, placing her coffee down next to her and opening the email that the tech had sent to her regarding the victim's cell phone.

"She worked there - at Swift's. She worked behind the counter," Castle began, "I was there a few weeks ago, buying a present for mother." He added quickly before continuing. "She was Australian, her name was,"

"Cassandra Peterman." Beckett replied, staring up to look at Castle, ignoring the comment he'd made about his mother.

"Cassie." Castle said, "She called herself Cassie, she was here on holiday." He explained as he rounded the desk and bent over to look at what Beckett was reading.

Beckett nodded, "Tech ran her phone, there's no billing information, the SIM is international, but," she told him pointing towards the screen, "all the messages are to a Cassie or Cassandra and the emails are the same."

"She'd been here for three months, she had two left before she went home." Castle explained.

"How long did you talk to her for?" Beckett questioned.

"Why Detective Beckett," Castle began, "are you jealous?"

"No." Beckett answered a little too quickly.

Castle felt a smile cross his face – before he remembered Bancroft.

"Castle," Beckett said pointing at a new paragraph of text on the screen, "look at the last message she sent."

"'_I want to come home. I thought coming here was a good idea. I was wrong. Will you book me a flight home? I'll pay you as soon as I am home._'" Castle read quietly before he turned to look at Beckett.

"Sent just after 3am. The body was found just before 4:20am. That leaves an hour and twenty minutes between the two." Beckett explained as she stood up and walked over to the board, writing the new information underneath the word victim and adding the time of the sent message to the time line.

"Her dress is expensive," Castle added as he moved to stand next to Beckett, noticing her strange expression he explained, "no I have not taken to buying women's clothes. Alexis showed me a picture in a magazine, she wanted something similar for next month."

Beckett nodded; she'd heard Castle and Alexis discussing dresses during their weekend away in the Hamptons. Alexis had also wanted her opinion on which dress she should choose, Beckett had agreed to go with her and Martha next weekend – for an afternoon of shopping and style – at least that was what Martha had promised.

"He liked to buy Paulette dresses." Castle stated, "Remember the size of her closet."

Beckett nodded, Bancroft certainly had the money to buy this particular brand of dress and Paulette had owned at least six by the same designer. Beckett remembered how delicately they'd hung in her closet – waiting patiently to be worn.

"She worked at the same store, she looks like Paulette, she's wearing a dress by the same designer that Paulette liked." Castle said with a hint of anger creeping through his voice, "You can't tell me that this is a coincidence."

"And there are no coincidences in murder," Beckett added, "I know Castle, but coincidences don't mean evidence."

"Yo," Esposito said interrupting Castle and Beckett, "he's claiming wrongful arrest in there, claims he has an alibi."

"There was a woman in his bed." Ryan stated as he came up behind Esposito, waiting for Castle to make a comment regarding leaving women alone in beds, but there was no comment and Ryan realised that this was going to be like the last time Bancroft had been in the precinct.

"Esposito," Beckett said taking control of the situation, "I need you to call Lanie, see if she's found anything that pins down time of death. Also fingerprints, if she was from Australia then she must have been fingerprinted when she arrived. We need confirmation of ID." Esposito nodded in response and headed for his desk, "Ryan I need you to get onto tech, see how they went tracking down the billing information. It must be late afternoon early evening in Australia. Cassandra Peterman has been using the cell, but did she own it? Or did this woman have someone else's phone." Ryan also nodded and then returned to his desk. "And Castle," she said quietly, "I need you to wait out here while I interview Bancroft."

Castle frowned, he knew that this was coming, he knew that she wouldn't let him in on the interview this time, but he'd half hoped she'd forgotten the way he'd let Bancroft crawl under his skin. Apparently she hadn't.

"With you in the room Bancroft will just become antagonistic, he won't give anything away, he'll expect you in there, he won't expect you to stay away, we need to throw him off guard. Challenge his expectations."

Castle nodded, "Okay." He said quietly.

"If he killed her we will find out." Beckett said softly, "I won't let him get away again." Castle smiled slightly, "And besides Castle, I never said you couldn't watch." She added raising her eyebrows towards him.

* * *

"Detective Beckett, how nice to see you again." Michael Bancroft said with a smile as Beckett entered the room. Bancroft had been pacing up and down the length of the interrogation room; he paused briefly as Beckett stopped behind the table, but then continued.

"Mr Bancroft, sit down." Beckett replied calmly as she placed a folder down in front of her. She watched as Bancroft considered it for a moment and then changed his mind.

"I've had my door kicked in, been dragged from my bed, had to leave my girlfriend in my apartment alone in the early hours of the morning and been subjected to manhandling by your lap dogs out there. I think I'll stand." Bancroft said firmly, folding his arms across his chest, "And I don't even get the pleasure of having my friend Castle interview me this time."

"Sit down Bancroft, before I make you sit down." Beckett replied calmly, "I don't care about your door, or your bed or your girlfriend. I care about murder, this woman's murder." She added, her voice low and calm, as she slipped the crime scene photo out from the folder, slamming it onto the desk in front of her. "This isn't going to be like last time, so sit down now." She said slowly as she watched Bancroft's facial expression change, before he slid into his seat carefully, "And Richard Castle is not your friend."

"But he is yours."

Beckett felt her anger begin to rise, but she took a deep breath and ignored Bancroft's latest comment, slowly she pulled the chair from behind the desk and sat down. Bancroft wouldn't rile her this time - she wouldn't let him. "This morning a woman was murdered in Central Park, she'd been strangled." She explained, pointing at the photograph in front of him. "She was found with a key card for Swift's Jewellers, the same store your wife worked for before her death."

"The wife you accused me of murdering."

Beckett ignored him again, "Have you met this woman?" She questioned, pointing at the photo again.

"No."

"You've never spoken to her at Swift's? You've never visited the store where your wife worked?"

"No Detective, the memories are simply too painful."

* * *

Inside the observation room Castle scoffed, "Too painful." He repeated under his breath, "I'd show him too painful." Once again Bancroft seemed to have all the answers, he'd never given anything away when they were investigating Paulette's murder and it seemed that this time would be no different.

"Talking to yourself again bro?" Esposito questioned as he entered the room, stopping next to Castle and staring in towards Beckett and Bancroft.

"Either myself or one of my many imaginary friends." Castle replied mirthlessly. "Any luck with Lanie?"

Esposito smiled and considered making a joke, but then decided against it, "Yes," he replied, "She wants to see you and Beckett now, she's found something interesting."

Castle groaned inwardly, he then groaned for a second time out loud as he heard Bancroft explain that he had been home all night – he'd been entertaining the woman that they had made him leave in his bed. He watched as Beckett's head turned towards the mirror, she was almost staring right at him, even if she couldn't see him. Castle knew what she was thinking; they were the same thoughts that he was thinking.

* * *

So what has Lanie found? Review and you'll find out :)


	5. Chapter 5

Many thanks to all of the reviewers - I love knowing what you think.

I don't own anything you recognise.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Five**

Beckett leant against the back of the closed interrogation room door, she stared out into the precinct. That conversation had gone exactly how she had expected, Bancroft had given nothing away, and he had, as she knew he would played his cards exceptionally close to his chest, she felt as if she'd learnt nothing from that interrogation. She sighed to herself as Captain Montgomery approached her; he looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Is it him?"

"He's claiming he was at home all night and all this morning." Beckett explained, "He says the woman we made him leave behind is his alibi." She said continuing as she and the Captain walked into the bullpen. Ryan was the only one at the desks, he was having an animated conversation with someone over the phone and Castle and Esposito were nowhere to be found.

"Hold him for as long as you can." Captain Montgomery told her, "The longer he is here, the longer it is before he can get to the press and complain about us."

Beckett nodded, she'd planned to hold Bancroft for the maximum time she could, he wasn't going to get away from her this easily – at least not again.

"Thanks, thanks so much, you were so helpful." Ryan said loudly, attracting Beckett's attention as he dropped the phone down, clunking on his desk. "I thought Australia was a friendly country," he told her with a shake of his head, "Without confirmation of ID or the password that the cell was set up with they will not divulge any pertinent information. Apparently it is for privacy reasons and no telling them I was an American cop didn't help, she's apparently heard all of the reasons _under the sun_."

Beckett sighed again, they needed more information – the murder board was still too bare for her liking, they needed to know more. She stared down at her father's watch, it was still an hour until Swift's opened for the day, and surely they'd be able to divulge information about this particular woman.

"Beckett," Captain Montgomery said as he studied the murder board, "If this is Cassandra Peterman we are going to need to inform 1PP and then they will have to get in touch with the Australian Police." He explained before heading back to his office.

Beckett nodded once again, she knew that this was coming, she knew that she was going to have to tread carefully on this case, work the time line carefully, work around the fact that the victim's family was perhaps thousands of miles away and many time zones away, which was going to make solving this case just a little more complicated.

* * *

"Yo Beckett," Esposito said as he entered the bullpen with Castle following close behind, "Lanie found something she wanted you to see."

Beckett picked up her coat from the back of her chair, "Ryan, Esposito go back to Bancroft's and pick up this woman he left behind, question her about what they've been doing the past couple of days. Also run her, check if anything to do with Swift's or Paulette flags, see if she knows Maggie Andrews."

"On it." Ryan said with a nod of his head and he and Esposito quickly headed for the elevator.

"You okay?" Beckett asked Castle carefully as she watched Esposito and Ryan disappear behind the sliding elevator doors.

"You never really did believe Maggie's alibi for Bancroft did you?" Castle questioned, answering Beckett's question with a question of his own.

"No." Beckett replied, "And neither did you." She added remembering her many conversations with Maggie. Maggie Andrews was one of Paulette's co-workers at Swift's who claimed that on the night Paulette was murdered Bancroft was with her – all night. She claimed that they'd been having a secret affair, one that Paulette was unaware of. Despite numerous questions and threats of charges against her for providing a false alibi to a murderer Maggie had refused to change her alibi. This was one of the main reasons that Bancroft had walked, that and the fact that the case generated more bad press than the brass had been able to put up with.

"You know she still works at Swift's?" Castle stated as he and Beckett headed towards the elevator. "She was there when I was."

"When you were buying a present for your mother?" Beckett questioned as she watched Castle's face blush.

"Would you believe Alexis?"

Beckett smiled as she stepped into the elevator, "No." she replied as the doors closed.

"I should learn that you can't surprise a detective, especially one as good as you." Castle said with a smile of his own.

* * *

"What have you got Lanie?" Beckett questioned as she and Castle entered the medical examiner's room.

"Your victim is one Cassandra Peterman." Lanie said confidently, watching as both Beckett and Castle looked at one another. Neither of them said anything so she continued, "I ran her fingerprints and they were in the system. Twice in fact."

"Twice?" Beckett questioned.

"Once when she entered the country and a second time when something went missing at Swift's two weeks after she arrived. Both sets are identical to the prints I ran this morning. This is Cassandra Peterman."

"She was fingerprinted two weeks after she arrived?" Castle questioned.

Lanie nodded, "There's no mention of what happened after the fingerprinting and if anyone else was also fingerprinted."

Beckett pulled her phone from her pocket, she dialled Ryan quickly, and he answered on the second ring. "Confirmation that the victim is Cassandra Peterman. I need you and Esposito to meet us at Swift's as soon as it opens. Also reach out to Burglary, anything to do with Swift's three months ago we want to know about." Ryan made a fast reply and then hung up, "Thank you Lanie." Beckett told her friend with a smile, before turning to Castle "Ryan says Bancroft's girlfriend has provided him with a solid alibi. Apparently they've not left the bedroom in three days."

Castle felt his stomach flip slightly, another woman claiming that she was with Bancroft when someone was murdered, it all felt a little coincidental for him. "You don't believe her do you?" he questioned Beckett carefully.

"Ryan said she is quite certain about it, she didn't waver at all." Beckett replied, trying to hide her disappointment.

"I wouldn't thank me yet." Lanie said interrupting – alibi's were all very well, but this medical examiner had clear evidence – evidence that Castle and Beckett needed to hear, the two of them turned to look back at her and Lanie's voice became sombre as she continued to explain. "I have narrowed down time of death to somewhere just before 4am, strangling was the cause, the strap of her handbag matches exactly." Beckett nodded and Lanie continued, "The cut on her arm was pre-mortem, wound pattern suggests a small weapon with jagged edges, most likely the pen we found at the scene." She explained as she lifted the arm of the victim and showed Castle and Beckett the mark that marred Cassandra's pale skin. "She was also punched in the face pre-mortem." She told them, pointing at the deep bruising on Cassandra's cheek.

"All of this sounds helpful Lanie." Beckett said with a confused tone.

"The bruise pattern suggests she was punched by someone wearing a large ring on their right hand. The ring was big enough to leave a distinctive pattern."

Castle let out a sigh, Bancroft had never worn a ring, he'd always claimed an allergic reaction to metal. Castle had laughed about it once with Ryan and Esposito, a man married to a woman who worked in a jewellery store was allergic to metal and now it seemed that something he'd once laughed at would be a piece of evidence that could exonerate Bancroft.

"There is more." Lanie stated as she held up Cassandra's right hand, "There is post-mortem bruising on the fourth finger of her right hand. As if something was taken off her finger after she was killed."

"They left her bracelet and necklace but took something from her finger?" Beckett questioned.

Lanie nodded, "They left a $1199 bracelet but took her ring."

"She could have had a more expensive ring." Castle suggested.

"By the marks on the skin the ring was small, nowhere near the value of the bracelet. But it was worn often." Lanie explained turning Cassandra's finger towards Castle and Beckett.

"So the ring had significance to the killer." Beckett said thinking aloud. "She knew her killer."

"And he kept her ring." Castle added.

"That's what I was thinking." Lanie said with a small smile, she loved the way her best friend and her partner could finish each other's sentences. She'd once told them it was 'so cute,' and she still thought it was but she didn't mention it, the reaction the first time was enough.

"Swift's opens in half an hour." Beckett said as she checked the clock on the wall, "Surely someone might have noticed what ring she was wearing." Castle nodded back at her, "Thank you Lanie." Beckett said with a smile.

"I still haven't finished." Lanie began as she moved to the opposite end of the table, "When I was examining her feet I found that one of them was heavily bandaged inside her shoe." She explained pointing out the pair of heels that had been carefully placed on the table beside Cassandra.

"They are high heels." Beckett noted, studying the large heel of the designer made shoe, "It has been known for women to tape their feet into shoes so that they fit better."

"Speaking from experience?" Castle questioned jokingly – trying to lighten the black cloud that he'd felt descend on his mood.

Beckett turned and glared at him, shaking her head slowly. The slight smile he had been wearing disappeared quickly.

"You were saying Lanie." Castle prompted – turning his attention back to the amused medical examiner.

"Once I unwrapped the bandage I found scarring to her ankle." Lanie explained pointing out the scars for both Beckett and Castle to see. "I took an x-ray and found that there is a metal plate and screws holding together her ankle."

Beckett moved slowly to where Lanie had placed the x-ray film, she studied the picture carefully. She wasn't a doctor and she couldn't tell what she was looking at – but she could see the three screws that held the pieces of Cassandra Peterman's ankle together. "Do you know when this would have happened?"

"From the scarring over the skin and the way it has healed I am estimating at least a year ago if not more." Lanie explained, "Also I assume she was walking in these shoes and they would require an amount of strength that would need at least a year to heal."

"So she was injured back home." Castle stated.

Beckett nodded before questioning Lanie, "Have you got more?" Lanie shook her head and Beckett smiled thoughtfully, before turning to look at Castle. He smiled back and the two of them bid a farewell to Lanie before stepping out into the hall – they now had confirmation of their victim's identity. But they also had many unanswered questions and if there was one thing that _both_ of them didn't like – it were questions that didn't have answers.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to my reviewers, I am sorry that this is so long coming.

I don't own anything you recognise.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Six**

Castle watched as Beckett sighed before pulling her cell from her pocket, carefully as he often did he peered over to read the cell screen; she stared at him and raised an eyebrow towards him before dialling the Captain's phone number. He listened as Beckett explained that the body was that of Cassandra Peterman – he could hear the intrigue in her voice as she explained the new information that they had just discovered. Castle too was intrigued, Cassandra Peterman had lived a very interesting life – she was much more than just a sales assistant who had sold him a present – she like every one else had her own story – a story that ended prematurely miles from home.

By the time the phone call was over, Castle and Beckett were standing beside her car.

Beckett turned towards Castle, "Montgomery is going to contact 1PP and then they will contact Australia. The words 'diplomatic disaster' were mentioned if her family found out via another method."

Castle nodded, he understood the sensitivity, he didn't want to think of what he'd be like if something happened to Alexis when she was on the other side of the world. He shook his head and pushed those thoughts out of his mind, he knew where Alexis was at this point in time – she would still be reading over her essay.

"You okay?" Beckett questioned Castle, reading his bemused expression perfectly.

Castle nodded as the two of them climbed into the car, "Just thinking." He answered quietly.

Beckett laughed softly, "Don't think too hard, you'll make your head hurt."

Castle smiled, "Nice, Detective Beckett, nice."

* * *

After dodging the busy morning traffic by taking two back streets and an alleyway Beckett pulled into an empty space a few shops away from Swift's Jewellers. As the two of them climbed from the car and began to walk towards the large marble building, she remembered the last time she had visited this store – she'd come alone once without Castle to try and talk to Maggie Andrews.

She'd mused that perhaps Maggie would be willing to open up to Beckett alone, she hadn't. Maggie had been certain of the fact that she and Michael were together at the time of Paulette's murder and they had been carrying on an affair behind Paulette's back for at least six months. No matter what Beckett said, Maggie had stonewalled, she refused to say anything other than two lines, 'Michael and I were together when Paulette was murdered. We are in love. We have been together for months.' It was as if someone had made her practice exactly what she had said, as if they had drilled it into her mind.

Beckett smiled as Castle held the door open for her and she slipped in beside him, both of them entering the opulent store – it was empty apart from the employees. Immediately out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the familiar figure of Maggie. She'd been standing beside one of the display cases – Beckett watched as she quickly found something to occupy herself with, but not before Beckett noticed a deep crimson blush spread across her cheeks.

"Mr Castle." A voice said loudly, interrupting Beckett's thoughts. Beckett turned to look at the person who it belonged to, Harry Swift smiled towards the two of them and continued, "How nice it is to see you again Mr Castle, I do hope that there is nothing wrong with the gift you purchased recently. Cassandra told me that you were quite pleased with the finished product."

Beckett watched as this time Castle blushed, before he held up his hand.

"The present is fine, better than fine, in fact." Castle answered with certainty.

"Excellent Mr Castle. After all here at Swift's every piece is made to the highest standards of perfection, otherwise we would not have the clients that we do. We are proud of our quality and I stand behind it, just as my father did." Harry Swift explained, leading the two of them over to a display cabinet that housed a beautiful collection of bracelets. "Did you wish to purchase another piece? I am expecting Cassandra at any moment."

Castle looked at Beckett and she immediately shook her head, "Mr Swift," she began slowly, "I am afraid Cassandra won't be coming today." She watched as his brow furrowed, processing the information she was giving him, "Her body was found in the early hours of this morning." Beckett added quietly.

"Cassandra is dead?" Mr Swift repeated, rubbing a hand over his face, before clenching his fist. "What happened to her?"

"She was murdered Mr Swift." Beckett replied bluntly. In her dealings with him in the past Beckett knew that Mr Swift liked direct communication and he also revelled in the truth.

"Murdered?" He questioned quietly, almost in disbelief.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Castle questioned.

"Two days ago." Mr Swift replied, "We were expecting her back today, we were just talking about how this was her latest arrival yet." He said with a smile and a small laugh. "Cassandra was a wonderful employee in every duty but her punctuality, she was late for every day she worked here and for every work function she attended. She even had a story about how she almost missed her connecting flight from L.A to JFK."

Beckett smiled involuntarily; she herself had once come very close to missing a flight on her way to Kiev for her study program. She'd been the last person to board the plane and she'd spent the entire flight looking sheepish and apologetic. She turned as Castle made a slight cough, "Sorry." She replied, "Mr Swift, we wanted to ask you about the burglary that you reported a few months ago?"

Mr Swift took a deep breath as a paying customer entered the shop; he quickly motioned towards Maggie, who, with her eyes staring at the floor moved quickly to the gentleman. Beckett watched as Maggie plastered a smile on her face and greeted the customer warmly, her voice bright and cheerful.

"There was a piece stolen," Mr Swift said softly, his voice barely above a whisper, "it was taken late one evening. Cassandra and Maggie were the last to see it. They'd shown it to a particular wealthy client and when I returned to get the item the next day it was gone."

"Was anything else taken?" Castle questioned as he looked around at the opulent pieces.

"No Mr Castle. Just the one piece."

"And it was?" Beckett asked.

"A diamond and emerald tiara."

"A tiara?" Beckett questioned surprisedly.

Mr Swift nodded, "It was left to my father by his grandfather who received it in a settlement from one of his rivals who he had been engaged in a long standing feud with."

"And you wanted to sell it?" Castle asked.

"No, Cassandra and Maggie were showing it to one of our most regular clients. He had expressed an interest in a ring that was modelled after the same tiara. My mother designed that type of ring forty years ago and it has been one of our best sellers ever since."

"Do your assistants often show rare pieces to customers?" Beckett questioned, as her mind formulated a theory.

Mr Swift smiled before answering, "No, not often. It was something that Paulette began." Suddenly at his mention of her name, Mr Swift looked concerned. "Detective, Mr Castle please tell me that Cassandra wasn't murdered because she worked here like Paulette did. Paulette was fond of the tiara. She wore it at her wedding. It was my reward to her for being the best assistant in sales terms for six months."

"We are still making inquiries." Beckett replied seriously as she watched Mr Swift take a seat behind the counter.

"So the fingerprints?" Castle said as he watched the older gentleman wipe at his forehead with his handkerchief, he remembered a similar reaction when he and Beckett had come to question him about Paulette.

"Cassandra immediately offered to have her fingerprints taken to be eliminated from the number of fingerprints that were found on the box in which the tiara was stored. She came to my office the next day and told me that since she was the last employee to arrive she could see how we may become suspicious of her and she wanted to clear her name. That was the kind of person that she was. She was always prepared to go the extra mile."

"And Maggie?"

"Maggie was also fingerprinted and her fingerprints were found on the door of the safe only, we have security footage of her and Cassandra entering the safe, Maggie opens the safe and Cassandra enters and then returns with the tiara."

Beckett and Castle both nodded, in a strange way this made sense. Both women had volunteered their fingerprints to eliminate themselves from the police investigation. Beckett mused that Cassandra had done so because she wanted to stay in New York and as for Maggie; Beckett knew that she would do anything to keep the police away from her.

Beckett looked towards Castle as he mouthed something towards her, she could just make out the word 'coincidence' followed by a sharp shaking of his head. She nodded back towards him – she could follow his thoughts – there were too many similarities between Paulette and Cassandra to ignore.

"Sir." A voice said from behind where Mr Swift was sitting.

"Yes Chris." Mr Swift answered as the slightly built security guard stepped out of the back office.

"I have been reviewing the security footage of early this morning as per your new protocol and I've found Cassandra standing outside the front door at about 3am."

Immediately Beckett was walking towards Chris, "I am going to need to see that footage."

Chris nodded and motioned for Beckett and Castle to follow him, Beckett did so at lightning pace, Castle was somewhat slower, he gently helped Mr Swift from his chair and then followed the now sombre man down the small corridor.

Beckett watched as Chris pressed play and the small figure of Cassandra appeared on the screen – she was dressed only in the dress she had been found in and she was shivering violently. Beckett noticed Cassandra reach for her phone, she checked the time stamp of the recording and matched the time to the message that she and Castle had read on her computer earlier this morning. Beckett turned as Castle and Mr Swift entered the room, "What was she doing?" Mr Swift questioned.

No-one answered his question, so Mr Swift simply sat back down at his desk, Beckett took this as her opportunity to ask him another question. "We believe that while outside Cassandra sent someone a message about wanting to go home, do you know why she would have done this?"

Mr Swift looked up slowly, "No Detective, as far as I knew Cassandra was returning to work today."

"Other than the burglary did she have any other problems?" Castle asked, taking the seat next to Mr Swift and sitting down slowly.

"No," Mr Swift told her firmly, "she had no other problems."

"That isn't entirely true." Chris answered from his seat; "There was the issue with her ring when she first started work."

"Her ring?" Beckett asked, remembering what Lanie had said about Cassandra wearing a small ring that wasn't found with her body. She focused back on the footage for a moment, the tape wasn't clear enough to see if she was wearing the ring outside the store but hopefully the image could be enhanced.

"Cassandra had a small silver ring." Mr Swift explained, "I approached her about not wearing it to work as it was not one of our pieces. She told me that someone who was no longer alive gave the ring to her and that it was very important to her. She cried in my office for an hour afterwards so I reconsidered and allowed her to wear it. She wore it every day."

"She never took it off." Chris added, "I asked her about it once and she was going to tell me but we were interrupted."

"Did she tell you anything more about it Mr Swift?"

"No. I didn't mention it again. I did not wish to upset her."

"I understand." Beckett replied, before addressing Chris, "We are going to need a copy of that tape."

Chris nodded, "Copying as we speak Detective." He replied with a smile.

Beckett smiled back and began to ask another question before she was interrupted - Maggie had entered the room.

"Mr Swift?" Maggie said quietly, concentrating intently on her employer – not looking at Castle or Beckett once. "Mrs Gregory is here about her daughter's pendant. She mentioned something about you having the perfect stone for the setting."

Mr Swift nodded, before rising to his feet, "Yes Maggie, I'll be there in a moment." Maggie nodded back and disappeared from sight quickly. "Is there anything else you need Detective, Mr Castle?" he questioned.

Beckett shook her head, "That is all for now Mr Swift," she replied with a smile, "Thank you for your co-operation."

"You are welcome Detective," he answered, "Please find who did this to Cassandra, she was a lovely girl. We will all miss her here."

Castle stood and nodded towards Mr Swift who then smiled at him, "And Mr Castle please come back anytime. I also hope that your present is well received. It is after all a beautiful piece."

"Yes." Castle replied quickly as he watched Beckett raise an eyebrow towards him, he sighed – he should have known it was entirely impossible to buy her a present without her finding out some of the details. He was about to say something when Chris handed Beckett the DVD.

"Thank you." Beckett replied and she turned to leave the office, slowly she walked out into the store and couldn't help but smile towards Maggie as she left the building.

"She knows something." Castle said under his breath as he followed Beckett out and into the street.

"I know." Beckett replied, "But she's unlikely to give it up. I've got more chance of finding out what you've bought for me than knowing what Maggie is thinking."

Castle laughed, she was probably right. But so was he, there was more to the story of Maggie Andrews and he was determined to find it out.

* * *

So any theories about what's happening?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Well, it has been a long time since we've visited this Castle and Beckett story. I was completely distracted by Knockout and everything that happened in that episode and was completely entranced by writing For Her. I've also started uni again, so my writing time has been shortened.

In regards to the time line of this fic, it's obviously set in the future, but Knockout didn't happen because we still have Montgomery in here. I did consider going back and removing him from the story - but I felt that was an awful thing to do.

I still don't own anything you recognise, I wish I did.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Seven**

"I have a theory."

Beckett turned her head slightly towards him as she unconsciously rolled her eyes, she couldn't help it, it was a force of habit, a habit formed in response to many CIA conspiracies put forward by the man seated next to her in her Crown Vic – most of them wildly inappropriate.

"You know my theories are sometimes helpful." Castle replied with a pout, "They aren't always wildly inappropriate."

Beckett felt her chin drop ever so slightly, "How did?" she began before she smiled, how hadn't she learnt by now that Castle could read her mind.

Castle grinned a wide smile, before he began to speak, "My theory centres on Cassandra Peterman."

"Yes obviously Castle." Beckett interrupted, "She is after all the murder victim." She added as she weaved the car in between a black town car and cab that had its back door open.

"But who was Cassandra Peterman? Was she one of us? Was she someone who was sent to America on special business to investigate more than what meets the eye? Counterfeiting? Racketeering? And how does Maggie fit into all of this? Was she in on the secret operation?"

Beckett turned towards him again and stared with a puzzled look, how on earth did he not think that this wasn't one of his wildly inappropriate theories? Cassandra Peterman a cop? Somehow she didn't think that was possible. "Really?" she questioned him.

"Did you ever meet her?"

"No," Beckett began, "and you did. I get that, but did you get the 'I am an undercover cop vibe' from her?"

"Not at the time, no."

"So why now do you think that she was?" Beckett said with a laugh.

"It sounds better than, nice girl killed a long way from home for no reason, or for a stupid reason." Castle said with a shrug, "Or girl, killed by man _I_ failed to send to jail when he killed his wife."

Beckett sighed and moved one of her hands from the steering wheel to rest upon one of his. "We failed Castle, not just you. We are partners remember." She watched as the corners of Castle's mouth turned upwards.

"So I'm not just your plucky sidekick then?" he questioned still smiling.

"I think we crossed that line awhile ago." Beckett said as she giggled slightly, feeling a telltale blush creep up her neck.

"Would this have been about the same time that we managed to get caught in the elevator?" Castle questioned as he ran his thumb over the palm of her hand.

Beckett smiled and began to speak; however the ringing of her phone interrupted her. Slowly she slipped her hand out from underneath Castle's fingers and answered the phone, "Beckett." She said sharply.

Castle watched as Beckett nodded towards him with a wink, he smiled, obviously he was right about the elevator moment, it was pretty important to him too. For a moment he let his thoughts wander, wandering back to the elevator and wandering back to the scene he was writing for his next book. He may have added something similar to his latest chapter but it wasn't Rook and Nikki caught in the elevator but Lauren and Ochoa.

He was certain Beckett would murder him if he ever wrote what happened in the elevator between Nikki and Rook but Lauren and Ochoa should be okay, hopefully.

"Castle." Beckett said interrupting his thoughts. "That was Montgomery. Tech managed to trace where the majority of Cassandra's calls were made."

"So we have an address?"

Beckett nodded as she pulled the car into a side street and swung a u-turn over a double line – sometimes there were perks to being a cop.

* * *

"Yo." Esposito said by way of greeting as Castle and Beckett entered the lobby of the building where Cassandra had lived.

"Spoke to this guy here," Ryan said, "he has a typical New York attitude, 'he didn't know her, he hasn't seen her recently and he doesn't know who she was friends with'."

"What he did know," Esposito began, "is that our boy Honey Milk here needs a vest that makes him look less Justin and more Clooney."

Castle laughed as Esposito held out his hand and Castle slapped his hand against it, "Nice work, my friend, nice work."

Ryan groaned and turned towards Beckett, giving her a pleading sort of look.

"Leave the vest alone," Beckett began sounding as if she was about to reprimand Castle and Esposito, "it's not Ryan's fault that his wife likes to dress him like a Ken doll." She added with a perfectly straight face, before she began to laugh.

"That's our girl." Esposito said with a laugh, "That might have even been a better joke than mine."

"It was." Castle replied, "Yours needed some work in the delivery. We knew you were going to end with a punch line before you'd even finished and with Beckett here, well she had a straight face all the way through. Didn't you?" Castle questioned turning to where Beckett had been standing – she wasn't there.

"We have a murder to solve." Beckett called from the stairwell, "I'll be searching the victim's apartment while you decide who has a better delivery of jokes."

The three men laughed and quickly gained pace to follow her. She turned as she reached the first landing, "Mine was better though." She added with a smirk.

"It was in the comedic timing." Castle added, "She learnt that from me."

Beckett rolled her eyes, "No Castle, you learnt that from me."

Ryan and Esposito turned and looked at one another, "Always the banter yo, always the banter." Esposito stated as Ryan nodded in agreement. Castle and Beckett simply smiled knowing smiles at each other; their friends were unknowingly saying a word that was very important to them. One of them had even had the word inscribed on an item of jewellery, but that was a story for another time.

* * *

The four of them approached the apartment door still smiling and talking with each other, until Beckett noticed that the lock on the door was missing. Immediately she was quiet and signalled towards the three men, using two fingers to point towards her eyes and then towards the door, she then reached for her weapon and held it in front of her.

It was Esposito who reacted to her instructions first; he immediately reached for his weapon and unclipped it from its holster. Ryan reacted next and followed the same routine as both Esposito and Beckett had. Castle slipped in behind the three of them and they approached the open door.

Esposito walked in first, "Police!" he called as Beckett and Ryan followed him inside, Castle hung back slightly, waiting a few seconds before he to entered the apartment.

All the laughter and banter of the past few minutes had been forgotten, they moved as the perfect team that they had become, their teamwork for the most part was impeccable.

"Police." Beckett called, but there was no reply. The apartment was empty. Empty, but someone had made their presence known.

"Empty." Ryan stated as he re-holstered his gun and the four of them studied the apartment carefully. Each of them slipped on gloves and moved to a different section of the room.

Ryan headed for the small bathroom and Esposito approached the closet.

"She had good reading taste." Castle said with a smile, holding up a copy of both Heat Wave and Heat Rises. "Is it strange of me to wonder if she had Naked Heat?"

"Yes." Ryan called from the bathroom, "but I wouldn't worry, she's got it in here. It's by the bath."

"The bath huh?" Esposito questioned, "Girl had style."

Beckett smiled to herself as she stepped over a broken photo frame; slowly she bent down and picked it up from the floor, dusting glass to the floor. It was a collage of four photographs, each of them featuring a smiling Cassandra and a smiling man.

In one Cassandra was planting a kiss on the man's cheek, the other featured the opposite – Cassandra's cheek was the one being kissed, the final two made Beckett smile wistfully, one of them was the two of them hamming it up with silly faces and the final one was the two of them kissing.

Castle was standing a few steps away from Beckett and had found a small leather bound book resting open on the bed, carefully he picked it up and opened it to the first page.

Beckett turned towards Castle and held the photographs up to him: Castle smiled in response. "I think I know who he is." He replied.

"Don't tell me, you've met him too." Ryan answered from the bathroom.

"No." Castle replied, "I found this." He added, holding up the book.

"'_Dear Cassie,_'" Castle read in his best voice – the voice he used for his book readings, "_'I bought you this so that you can stop writing notes on small pieces of paper and then losing them and blaming me for it. I love you baby. All my love, Johnny.'_"

Beckett moved towards Castle and looked at the handwritten note, there was one of the same photos stuck underneath the note and in different handwriting was written _Johnny and me – St Kilda Beach – our anniversary_. Beckett smiled, "They look happy together," she said, her tone sad. "I wonder where he is?" she questioned.

"I think this might hold the answer." Castle explained as he flicked forwards in the book, "It starts with her writing about Johnny and then by the end she's writing to him. But there are several pages missing from the middle."

"'_Dear Johnny,_' " Beckett began reading aloud, "_'I arrived in New York today. It is everything that we dreamt it would be. I miss you more today than I have for a long time. We were supposed to be here together, it's so unfair that I have to be here without you. Sophia told me that it would get easier, but it's not. _

'_By chance there was a spare seat next to me on the plane; I wished that you had been sitting next to me. I even dreamt about you. I miss you so much. The only positive is that my ankle seems to be strengthening. I walked around the city for four hours this afternoon and it hardly hurt. I wish I could share this all with you. It just doesn't seem fair.'_ Wow." Beckett added, before she turned to look at Castle.

Castle looked forlorn, "She had a nice way with words."

"Is it just me or does she sound like she's writing to someone who's dead?" Ryan asked.

"Sounds like it to me." Beckett replied, "You've found yourself your next task Ryan. We need to know who this Johnny is or was."

"There's more," Castle said, "this entry mentions Paulette." He added, pointing out another entry hidden a few pages from the one that Beckett had read aloud and began reading again.

_"'Dear Johnny, today was my third day at work. So far it has been fun. Swift's has some really nice clients and Mr Swift is a sweetheart, he thinks my accent is hilarious. _

_'I said 'whilst' today and he laughed for about half an hour. The strangest part of the day was when an elderly woman called me Paulette and then said she thought I'd been murdered. _

_'I asked Maggie about it and she told me she'd tell me later – I have a feeling she won't. She didn't talk to me for the rest of the day; we didn't even have lunch together. I don't know if I'll ask her again.'"_

"There are quite a few pages missing in between her starting at Swift's and her most recent entries." Castle stated as he flicked through the ripped pages and found the final entry.

"What does the last one say?" Ryan asked as he left the bathroom and leant against the wall near Esposito.

"Your wish is my command." Castle replied and he began to read once more, "'_Dear Johnny, today I met Richard Castle._'"

"Nice joke bro." Esposito said with a laugh, "but what does it really say?"

"I'm serious," Castle replied, "It says, '_Dear Johnny, today I met Richard Castle. He came into the shop this afternoon. He was a really sweet guy. I didn't tell him that you introduced me to his books and that you bought one for my birthday. I even found room to bring all three of them with me. _

_'Sophia said I was crazy, she told me that I was taking up precious present room by bringing books. We laughed for hours. I miss her more than I thought I would, but at least I can pick up the phone and call her when I need to, it's not like you. _

'_Richard Castle was buying a present for someone who he really loved. I wonder if you smiled like that when you bought me my ring. I feel like I am getting used to the idea of you being gone, being here maybe helps. I'm meeting new people, different people. I think I need to call Sophia, I need her advice.' _See Esposito, I wasn't joking, she thought I was sweet."

"The more we learn about Cassandra the more I like her." Beckett said.

"You just like her because she said nice things about Castle." Esposito said with a grin.

Beckett rolled her eyes, "For that Esposito it's your job to track down Sophia. Start by going through the phone records. I'd assume that she's in Australia by the way Cassandra wrote about her – but you never know." Esposito nodded and Beckett continued, "Castle and I will speak to Mr Un-helpful downstairs, surely he must have seen something, perhaps we can persuade him to co-operate."

"I'll contact CSU," Ryan said as he pulled his phone from his pocket, "hopefully whoever broke in left some evidence behind."

Beckett nodded, everyone had their own tasks, they had more evidence than before and they had good leads, perhaps they were on their way to finding out what had happened to Cassandra.

* * *

A/N: So we've got Johnny and Sophia making their first appearances and yes, Johnny is named after Nathan Fillion's character in Two Guys and a Girl ;) and Sophia is after my special American big sister.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Yes, it has been a long time. But this story is still going and it will keep going.

I don't own anything you recognise, just keeping myself entertained, and you hopefully.

* * *

**Boulevard of Broken Dreams**

**Chapter Eight**

Beckett sighed as she climbed back into the driver's seat of her Crown Vic, "He really was useless." Castle said with a sigh of his own as he sat down beside her in the passenger seat. Beckett nodded, before Castle continued, "You'd think he'd care that someone who lived in his building had been murdered, but he only seemed interested in making sure that there weren't any holes in the floor."

"Well there weren't any holes," Beckett replied, "The only holes I can think of at the moment are the holes in our timeline and knowledge of Cassandra's life." She explained as she pulled the car from the curb and headed back towards the precinct.

"What do you think is missing from these pages?" Castle asked, as he continued to thumb through the pages of Cassandra's makeshift diary.

Beckett turned to face him, "Are you asking me because you cannot think of anything sensible?" she questioned with a small smile.

Castle smiled back, "I did think that there might have been the answers to life's greatest questions, but somehow I just can't see it."

"And life's great questions would be what questions exactly?" Beckett asked, her eyes staring towards the busy road in front of them. "And if you say something about alien invasions and the American gangster age, you will walk back to the precinct." She added with a straight face, even though she felt like laughing.

Castle opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

* * *

"Don't sit down."

Beckett stopped beside her desk and then turned and looked towards where the voice had come from, "Why?" she questioned towards her captain.

"Mr Swift needs to see you again. The tiara he mentioned to you this morning has turned up again." Montgomery explained as Beckett and Castle moved to stand next to him.

"Did he say where it was found?" Castle questioned, his writer's mind spinning a story immediately.

"No, but he did say that he wanted to speak to the both of you as soon as he could."

Beckett nodded, smiled and headed for the elevator once again.

* * *

"Detective Beckett, Mr Castle, thank you so much for coming back so quickly." Mr Swift said with a stressed voice as the two of them entered the jewellery store.

Beckett took a deep breath and studied the scene in front of her, there were no customers in the store and the only noise was coming from a small woman hunched in the corner sobbing her heart out. The woman was Maggie.

"Where was the tiara found Mr Swift?" Castle questioned, noticing that Beckett was in her studying the scene mode and he'd be most useful by asking a few questions.

"Just after you left, I went to see to Mrs Gregory, her daughter Sarah is having her birthday next month and her mother is keen to present her with a diamond encrusted pendant." Mr Swift explained carefully. "I had remembered a particular stone that my father had kept for the perfect setting and I was to offer it to Mrs Gregory. It is stored in the back storage safe."

"And the tiara was there?" Castle asked as he watched Beckett make her way over to the crying Maggie.

"Yes." Mr Swift nodded. "Maggie offered to retrieve the stone from the safe, she insisted in fact. But I was worried that she would bring the wrong one, you must understand that there are pieces in there that aren't to be shown to just anyone."

Castle nodded, "So you brought the tiara out in to the store?"

Mr Swift shook his head, "No, I saw it there and then left it. I was certain I'd never see it again. I pretended there was nothing amiss and continued to deal with Mrs Gregory, her daughter's present is going to be beautiful."

"Mr Swift asked me to clear the store of customers, without making a scene." Chris the security guard explained as he came to stand next to Mr Swift. "Maggie realised what was happening and began to cry, she hasn't stopped."

"Mr Castle," Mr Swift said carefully his voice small and worried, "please, you have to find out what is going on here. First Paulette, then Cassandra and now this, nothing like this has happened here before. Nothing."

* * *

"Maggie?" Beckett questioned as she knelt beside the crying woman, "Is there something that you need to talk about?"

Maggie shook her head, before she whispered slowly, "I did it to protect her. It was for her own good. I thought this would keep her safe."

"You moved the tiara to try and blame Cassandra?" Beckett questioned as Maggie moved her head upwards to face her.

"Yes." Maggie replied, her voice shaking. "I did it to protect her from him. It couldn't happen again."

* * *

Castle and Beckett stood in the observation room watching Maggie carefully. She had stopped crying and was busy smoothing down the ends of her hair. She looked calm, no sign of the woman who had shook the whole way back to the precinct. If Castle were writing her character, he would have written that she'd made a serious decision and was now willing to take the consequences of her actions.

* * *

"Maggie, you told me earlier that you took the tiara from where it was and placed it somewhere else. Is this true?" Beckett questioned as she and Castle sat down opposite her in the interrogation room.

"Yes." Maggie replied calmly.

"Can you tell us why?" Castle asked.

"I did it for Cassandra."

"For Cassandra?"

"Cassie was so much like Paulette, she acted like her, she looked like her, she thought the tiara was so amazing, just like Paulette did. The customers noticed how much she was like Paulette, I saw it. It wouldn't be long before he saw it."

Beckett and Castle looked at one another, could they have been right all along?

"Before who saw?"

"Michael."

"Mr Bancroft told us this morning he no longer visits Swifts', that he hasn't been there since Paulette was killed." Castle stated, he could see the story unfurling before his eyes.

"He may not have been inside but he's been there. He met Cassie once, he came to pick me up one night."

"And you needed to protect Cassie from Mr Bancroft because?" Beckett questioned, she could sense the breakthrough coming, she could feel that she'd been right all along, that Maggie was about to reveal that she'd been lying about his alibi.

"Because Michael killed Paulette," Maggie replied, her voice hiccupping as she said so.

"The alibi that you gave him?" Castle asked, his curiosity intrigued, he'd been right all along.

"I was with him, but we weren't at home."

"You were there?"

Maggie nodded. "Michael and I were meant to meet that night, he was supposed to be taking me out for dinner. We were having an affair, that part was true."

"When did this affair begin?"

"About six months earlier, the Christmas party. I didn't mean for it to happen but it just did." Maggie explained. "The night Paulette died he called and said he would be late and would it be okay if I met him at the restaurant. I told him it was fine and instead of catching a cab I decided to walk."

"You walked through the park?" Castle questioned, seeing the story take shape.

Maggie nodded, "The night was nice, there wasn't a cloud in the sky."

"He knew you would see him?" Beckett asked, shocked at the level of cruelty one man was able of.

"I called him to say that I was walking, he told me that he too had decided to walk. I met him in the middle of the park. He had scratches down the side of his face, he told me what he'd done and that if I didn't alibi him out he'd do the same to me, except he'd make sure that no-one ever found the body." Maggie explained, shivering. "I believed him, I believed he'd kill me, I was terrified."

"Paulette was your friend." Castle stated bluntly.

Maggie nodded once again, "But she was dead. I couldn't bring her back."

"There were no scratches on Mr Bancroft's face when we interviewed him the next morning." Beckett said, wondering what had happened to them.

"Before I worked at Swifts' I was a cosmetologist, I worked for a leading skin care company, I hid the scratches with makeup, it wasn't hard, they were only superficial and they disappeared quickly."

"Why did you take the tiara?" Beckett questioned carefully.

"I thought I could get her fired. That she would get the blame and then she'd be sent home and out of harms way. She was new, the last one to begin working there, I thought they'd blame her and then she'd be gone. I never thought she'd volunteer to be fingerprinted and that her honesty would make her more well received."

"But you couldn't get the tiara out of the building?"

"No," Maggie stated, "And I didn't want to. I didn't want it for myself."

"You said he met Cassie once, Cassie arrived in New York once Paulette was dead. How did they meet? Why did they meet at all?" Beckett questioned, confused as to the chain of events.

"Michael came to pick me up for dinner." Maggie stated.

"You went to dinner with him?" Castle questioned, not really believing what he was hearing. "This man killed your best friend, threatened you but still you kept seeing him."

"Yes."

"Did you continue to sleep with him?"

"Yes. Michael wanted it to look as if the affair was continuing, he needed to keep up the pretence if you came after him again."

"Did you sleep with him willingly?" Beckett asked carefully.

"Yes." Maggie replied once more, "I did what I had to do to stay alive."

"Are you still sleeping together?"

"No, not since he met Alexandra."

Beckett and Castle turned to look at one another again, each of them knew that the other was thinking of - the woman Bancroft had claimed he was with overnight.

"And he met Alexandra when?"

"Three weeks ago, give or take."

"Paulette was killed months ago, but you still continued sleeping with her killer?"

"I told you," Maggie replied, her voice full of certainty, "I did what I had to do to stay alive. Am I proud of what I did? No, of course not. But I am still alive. Do I hate myself? Yes, of course I do. But I am still alive. Was I a terrible friend? Yes. Do I wish I had told you this months ago? Of course. But people do what they have to do to stay alive and that is what I did."

Castle stared towards the small woman, he half expected her to burst into tears but her posture was resolute, he'd been right about his observations of her character, she'd made her decision and she was ready for the consequences and consequences would be forthcoming.

* * *

Beckett and Castle stepped from the interrogation room, leaving the resolute Maggie behind them. "What will happen to her now?" Castle questioned.

"The DA will most likely charge her with providing a false alibi, it depends on whether or not we can get Bancroft to admit that he threatened her." Castle nodded at Beckett's explanation, as she slipped her hand carefully into his and squeezed it tightly, "You were right."

Castle smiled, a hollow smile, "I was, but that doesn't bring her back. Nor does it solve what happened to Cassie, we know he didn't kill her."

Beckett squeezed his hand again, "It's a start Castle, and it's justice for Paulette. Her family will know what happened to her once and for all."

Castle nodded, "And that's what we do."

Beckett nodded back towards him and smiled, she was about to say something as her phone rang. "Beckett," she answered as Esposito began talking to her at a rapid pace.

Castle noticed the change in his girlfriend almost immediately; she let go of his hand and began to pace around the room.

"Castle," she said quietly, as she hung up the phone, "Bancroft has been found dead."


End file.
